Scotland v Ukraine

[2426255]

2 minutes ago, red23 said:

Would make life easier no doubt about it but not at the expense of Ukraine being destroyed no.

If they can't make it in June, then yes i'm hoping for a bye.

What would be your view if you were Ukrainian?

[red23]

Just now, 2426255 said:

What would be your view if you were Ukrainian?

what's with all the questions, you my ex? 

If my country was being destroyed and i just lost my home its hard to tell how much i'd be caring about the world cup in all honesty.

[2426255]

I was just trying to understand your point of view so I had to ask you a couple of questions to do that, but fair enough, your being honest. I don't mind postponing it longer than June if it's possible. 

Edited April 4, 2022 by 2426255

[The Moonster]

10 hours ago, Donathan said:

I’m not sure that Cooper and McKenna are good enough ball players to play at the side of a back three for us. The one player who is better with the ball is Jack Hendry. I’d be fine with either Hendry at LCB, or put Hendry in his normal position and move McTominay over to the left side. For me, ball skills are more important for that role than being left footed. 

Delighted to see the under-rating of Liam Cooper still running like a stream of hot pish through the Tartan Army. 

[TheScarf]

I think Fifa will step in and give us a bye if Ukraine can't fulfill the fixture in June.  The can can't be kicked down the road for months more here.  There's a World Cup to be played,

[Blootoon87]

Delighted to see the under-rating of Liam Cooper still running like a stream of hot pish through the Tartan Army. 

Cooper is mince.

[The Moonster]

13 minutes ago, Blootoon87 said:

Cooper is mince.

Aye, the Leeds captain is mince but the lad who canny get a game for Club Brugge any more is fucking magic. 

[Blootoon87]

Aye, the Leeds captain is mince but the lad who canny get a game for Club Brugge any more is fucking magic. 

The Leeds captain is indeed mince, I've no strong opinion on Jack Hendry.

[craigkillie]

Delighted to see the under-rating of Liam Cooper still running like a stream of hot pish through the Tartan Army. 

Cooper can play in the middle, but he will struggle as LCB against top level sides as we saw against the Czechs at the Euros. He's not good enough coming out with the ball to take on that Tierney role. The problem is, neither is anyone else we have. That's why I suggested trying Taylor in there in one of the friendlies.

[No_Problemo]

3 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

Cooper can play in the middle, but he will struggle as LCB against top level sides as we saw against the Czechs at the Euros. He's not good enough coming out with the ball to take on that Tierney role. The problem is, neither is anyone else we have. That's why I suggested trying Taylor in there in one of the friendlies.

He obviously can’t take on the Tierney role, but I don’t think it’ll be an issue to the same extent as the Czech game. Our right hand side that day was Hendry and O’Donnell. McTominay would absolutely have to play RCB if Tierney wasn’t available - Patterson obviously gives us far more on the ball from the right hand side that O’Donnell is capable of too. Regardless, it would still be a huge blow and limit us in possession, and defensively - it will be whoever plays there though. 

[Big Fifer]

Cooper is absolutely fine, but as above, literally anyone we attempt to put in that LCB slot looks rubbish because Tierney is so good at it. Interesting to look at the line up from that Czech game, teams changed quite a bit in less than a year. Adams, Patterson, Gordon and Gilmour all on the bench and McTominay in centre mid. 

[velo army]

19 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

He obviously can’t take on the Tierney role, but I don’t think it’ll be an issue to the same extent as the Czech game. Our right hand side that day was Hendry and O’Donnell. McTominay would absolutely have to play RCB if Tierney wasn’t available - Patterson obviously gives us far more on the ball from the right hand side that O’Donnell is capable of too. Regardless, it would still be a huge blow and limit us in possession, and defensively - it will be whoever plays there though. 

Patterson is currently sporting a big plastic Welly after turning his ankle in training, so we may have exactly the same problem.

[The Moonster]

40 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

Cooper can play in the middle, but he will struggle as LCB against top level sides as we saw against the Czechs at the Euros. He's not good enough coming out with the ball to take on that Tierney role. The problem is, neither is anyone else we have. That's why I suggested trying Taylor in there in one of the friendlies.

Tierney is world class, we simply can't replace him like for like. Cooper is the next best left sided centre back we have, therefore he should play there. We both have very differing views on Greg Taylor so I won't go down that road. 

[craigkillie]

I do like Cooper and think he gets a raw deal on here sometimes, but the one question I'd ask is whether he's at Leeds because he was always at Leeds or because he is genuinely good enough. If he hadn't been at Leeds since League 1, would they have gone out after promotion to the Premier League and signed him? I doubt it, and I do think he is probably a Championship quality player doing alright in the league above. That's not an issue in itself because we don't exactly have many options above that level at centre-back.

However, McKenna is more or less in the same boat as him here, in terms of also being a good Championship level centre-back, who would probably do fine for Forest if they went up, but who isn't likely to have Premier League clubs coming in to sign him. Therefore I don't think it's clear cut at all that Cooper is a better option than McKenna in that left-sided role if we don't have Tierney.

[Stellaboz]

Cooper is absolutely fine. Much rather have him than McKenna going on Scotland appearances.

[Kejan]

13 hours ago, 2426255 said:

How many Scotland fans are privately hoping that we just get a bye to the playoff final? 

A lot I would say. 

As shite as the situation is, think we need to have a decision its June or a bye to the final. 

[No_Problemo]

56 minutes ago, velo army said:

Patterson is currently sporting a big plastic Welly after turning his ankle in training, so we may have exactly the same problem.

I think I would probably join the Hickey for RWB bandwagon if that was the case on top of Tierney - for ball retention as much as anything else. Hickey looked comfortable out there last night at a very decent standard. 

[forameus]

I'd honestly rather not have a bye.  Obviously if you were sat down and told that there's two options - you're getting put out in a match, or you're going through with a bye, you'd choose the latter, but if at all possible, you want to earn your way to a competition.  We've got the biggest match we've had in ages set for Hampden and it would be a shame if that ended up getting cancelled (although a bye would certainly be salve to those wounds).  

As to what will happen, it sounds like at least those in charge in Ukrainian football want the match to go ahead.  If the players share those sentiments, I expect it will.  The big unknown is just how those players are going to feel though.  Obviously they'll want to reach the World Cup, it's likely the pinnacle of their profession, but are they really going to hold that above the horrible stuff that is happening in the country they're holed up in?  Would they feel like they could leave to play the match in good conscience?  Honestly, it's hard to tell from our perspective.

[Frank Grimes]

We’re generally relying on someone to be brave and make a a tough but inventible decision but I don’t think that’s forthcoming yet 

The situation seems to be getting worse in Ukraine again with the reports of atrocities against children etc so the prospect of this game being in a better position to go ahead early June is optimistic to say the least 

I can genuinely see them kicking the can down the road until September because nobody will want to be the bad guy in terms of making Ukraine play or putting this fixture out of its misery and giving us a bye 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Frank Grimes

[2426255]

1 hour ago, forameus said:

As to what will happen, it sounds like at least those in charge in Ukrainian football want the match to go ahead.  If the players share those sentiments, I expect it will.  The big unknown is just how those players are going to feel though.  Obviously they'll want to reach the World Cup, it's likely the pinnacle of their profession, but are they really going to hold that above the horrible stuff that is happening in the country they're holed up in?  Would they feel like they could leave to play the match in good conscience?  

Shakhtar Donetsk (Currently training in Turkey) and Dynamo Kyiv (Currently training in Romania) are playing friendlies to raise funds and awareness, so the moral question isn't something that I would expect to stop the game going ahead. The majority of domestic Ukraine NT players and European based players are playing matches and so there is clearly a strong possibility this game will be played.

I can't think of any other reason not to play this game which moves the question on from if the game will be played to when will it be played? This ties in nicely with the noises coming out of the Ukrainian camp who are suggesting it would potentially be a disadvantage for Ukraine to play the game in June. They aren't asking if it will be played, they are thinking about when it will be played.

Quote

But the question I would ask is how can we play such an important game when you haven’t played a match for such a long time? But I think it would be extremely difficult to achieve two positive results. We are hoping FIFA and UEFA recognise this and postpone the matches to give us more time to prepare.

Ukraine NT Player, Taras Stepanenko

1. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-10681649/Ukrainian-champs-Dynamo-Kyiv-play-friendlies-against-Europes-sides-fundraising-tour.html
2. https://twitter.com/ZoryaLondonsk/status/1510665486282989569?s=20&t=sshckfsorFPskS3fE9jt4g
3. https://theathletic.com/news/ukraine-midfielder-asks-fifa-to-further-postpone-wc-qualifier-against-scotland/zDAzT0wznA77/

To those hoping for a bye, I would get comfortable with the idea that we will be playing Ukraine to avoid disappointment.

Edited April 5, 2022 by 2426255